Saturday, August 11, 2012

SETTLERS OF CATAN video game

Settlers of Catan
(GAME), PC Download. Oberon Media, 2005. $29.99.

Description: This is an online four player game and you need
a code to purchase it. Based on the award-winning, super popular Settlers of Catan board game developed
by Klaus Teuber, the board version won the Spiel des Jahres, the most coveted
game prize in the world. The online video game version allows for multiple
players. Game play involves settling an island and spending resources to build
up a civilization. The game involves trading for resources that players need in
order to build. The goal is to do the most building and developing. In the
game, each player has his or her own screen on which players can see recent
actions. The “board” is created by hexagonal tiles revealing the terrain of the
area in question. The areas determine which resource can be used.

Critical Evaluation: This is a wonderful game that requires
strategizing, social interaction, and a bit of luck. The visuals of the PC game
are bright and bold and they will catch the eyes of teens looking for saturated
colors. The layout of the game is complex and they’ve managed to create a video
game with all of the complexity but with a clean, streamlined design. This game
is complex enough already; the last thing players need is to have to figure out
a complex interface. This would be a wonderful game for a school or library. It
requires a great deal of thought but it is also incredibly fun and engagaing.

Reader’s Annotation: You are settling an uninhabited island
– can you manage your resources so that you can create more and more
settlements?

Author bio: Oberon Media was founded in 2003 and they
specialize in social, multi-platform games. The headquarters for the company is
in New York.

Klaus
Teuber is a respected designer of complex video games. He is the son of a
dentist, majored in chemistry, lives in Germany, and he’s won the Spiel des
Jahres several times for his complex and engaging game designs.